Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

I am glad the Minister for Transport is here. He was not here when I raised, on behalf of the taxi drivers of this country, the issue of Uber and its attempt to undermine the regulated taxi industry and the livelihoods of nearly 20,000 taxi drivers. On Saturday, along with thousands of taxi drivers, I participated in a protest at Merrion Square. They are asking that the Government enforce its own regulations or, if necessary, amend the legislation to protect their livelihoods given the efforts of Uber to undermine the regulated fare structure. What they are asking for, which is a win-win for everybody, is that there would be a not-for-profit, publicly-run, National Transport Authority-run app, which all of them would sign up for. This would mean money for Revenue and money for the Exchequer. It would mean the protection of the regulated taxi industry and the protection of the livelihoods of taxi drivers-----

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